Katie Smith
Katherine May "Katie" Smith (born June 4, 1974) is an American professional basketball player in the WNBA. Her primary position is shooting guard, although she sometimes plays small forward or point guard. She is the all time leading scorer in women's professional basketball, having notched over 6000 points in both her ABL and WNBA career. Personal Smith was born in Lancaster, Ohio and spent her formative years in Logan, Ohio. She began playing basketball as early as the 5th grade on a boys' team and took tap dance and ballet lessons as a youngster. She grew up in a family of student-athletes. Her father, John, Jr., played football at Ohio University (OU), and won three varsity letters in the 1960s before becoming a dentist. Her younger brother, Tom, earned three varsity letters playing football at OU as well as being a member on their track and field team. Tom won the 1996 Mid-American Conference championship in the discus throw. Her older brother, John, was a member of one of nine Mount Union College football teams that won the NCAA Division III title. He now is the head football coach at Bexley High School. High school In high school she was named the national Gatorade National Player of the Year during her senior year as she guided the Lady Chieftains to the Division I Ohio Girls' Basketball state championship game. Smith was named a High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the inaugural WBCA High School All-America Game in 1992, scoring fourteen points, and earning MVP honors. College years Smith attended the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio from 1992 to 1996, and helped lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship and the NCAA title game her freshman year. During her career at OSU, Smith broke the Big Ten scoring record for points scored in a career, in men's or women's basketball. She was voted Big Ten MVP as a senior. Smith graduated in 1996 with a degree in zoology. On January 21, 2001, Ohio State honored her as the first female Buckeye athlete to have her number retired. She was also inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in October 2001. ABL Smith played for the Columbus Quest of the ABL, helping the team to win both League championships in its only two full seasons of existence. WNBA In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career. On August 16, 2007 she became the first professional women's basketball player to score 6000 career points (ABL and WNBA combined). At the end of the 2010 season Katie had a total of 7.193 professional career points, 1433 from the ABL, 5760 from the WNBA. She is 3rd in the list of all time leaders in scoring in the WNBA behind Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson. From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for the Minnesota Lynx where her outside shooting was the central focus of the Lynx offense. On July 30, 2005, Smith was traded to the Detroit Shock along with the Lynx's 2006 second round pick, for Chandi Jones, Stacey Thomas and the Shock's 2006 first round draft pick. In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to win the All Star game as a member of both the eastern and western conference teams. She also became the only player to earn both ABL and WNBA championship rings when the Shock won the WNBA title, defeating the Sacramento Monarchs, the same year. Smith was the MVP of the 2008 WNBA Finals, when the Detroit Shock beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 3-0. On March 16, 2010, Katie Smith signed a contract with the Washington Mystics as a free agent. On April 29, 2011, Smith was acquired by the Seattle Storm in a three-team trade with the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. International career *Smith helped the US earn the gold medals in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics as well as the 1998 and 2002 World Championships. *She played the 2001-2002 season in Lotos Gdynia, the Polish club of Małgorzata Dydek. They reached the final of EuroLeague Women. Europe * 2001-2002: Lotos Clima Gdynia * 2009: Fenerbahçe Istanbul Notes }} External links *WNBA Player Profile *Olympic Player Profile *Katie Smith's U.S. Olympic Team bio Category:Born in 1974 Category:American women's basketball players Category:Shooting Guards Category:Small Forwards Category:Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:Basketball players from Ohio Category:Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Category:Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball players Category:Columbus Quest players Category:Detroit Shock players Category:Minnesota Lynx players Category:Washington Mystics players Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Retired